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Hundreds of Thousands of US Students Have Not Returned after Pandemic

时间:2023-02-15 06:09:39

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Hundreds of Thousands of US Students Have Not Returned after Pandemic

Hundreds of thousands of American students have dropped out of public schools since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. They have essentially1 gone missing from schools.

An examination by The Associated Press, Stanford University's Big Local News project and Stanford education professor Thomas Dee reached some of the "missing" students. They found an estimated 240,000 students in 21 states whose absences from school could not be explained. These students did not move out of state. They did not sign up for private school or home-school.

Missing students received a lot of attention in 2020 after the pandemic closed schools around the country. In the years since, however, missing students have largely become a budgeting problem.

School leaders and some state officials worried about how they would lose financing2 if the students did not return. More students means more money from the city, state and federal governments.

There is no longer urgency to find the students who disappeared from school. Early in the pandemic, school workers would go to students' homes to try and help them return to the classroom. Most such efforts, however, have ended.

A problem not discussed

The missing students identified by the AP and Stanford represent more than just a number. The study represents thousands of students who have may have missed out on the basics of reading and other skills in kindergarten and first grade.

Discussion of children's recovery from the pandemic has centered largely on test scores and performance. But Dee, the Stanford expert, said the data suggests a need to understand more about children who are not in school and how that will affect their growth.

"This is leading evidence that tells us we need to be looking more carefully at the kids who are no longer in public schools," he said.

Over months of reporting, the AP learned of students and families avoiding school for many reasons. Some are still afraid of COVID-19. Others are homeless or have left the country. Some students could not study online and found jobs instead.

During the long period of online learning, some students fell so far behind that they no longer knew how to behave or learn at school. Many of these students are still officially on school rosters4. That makes it harder to truly count the number of missing students. The real number of young people not receiving an education is likely much higher than 240,000.

Losing the school connection

The AP and Big Local News found that public school enrollment6 fell by 710,000 students between the 2019-20 and 2021-22 school years. That number includes the 21 states that provided the necessary data. It also includes numbers from Washington, D.C.

Those states saw private-school enrollment grow by over 100,000 students. Home-schooling grew even more, increasing by more than 180,000.

But the data showed 240,000 students who were neither in private school nor attending home-school. Their absences could not be explained by population loss, like falling birth rates or families who moved out of state.

States where kindergarten is not required were more likely to have larger numbers of students who are unaccounted for. That suggests the missing students also include many young learners who have stayed at home instead of starting school.

The true number of missing students across the country is likely much higher. The study does not include data from 29 states or the unknown numbers of so-called ghost students -- children who are enrolled7 in school but rarely make it to class.

When schools provide little support

Officials of the Unified8 School District of Los Angeles, California, have spoken about attempts to find unschooled students and help remove barriers that prevent them from coming to school.

The district has offered clothes-washing services and help with housing. But some students and their parents say their problem is with a school system that they say has failed their children.

Allison Hertog represents more than 30 families whose children missed a lot of time learning when California's classrooms closed for more than a year early in the pandemic. She said, "Parents are bereft9." In other words, parents feel hopeless and are without necessary support.

Los Angeles student Ezekiel West is in fourth grade but reads at a first-grade reading level. Before the pandemic shutdowns, he moved from school to school when educators could not deal with his poor behavior.

During online learning, Ezekiel's mother had trouble getting internet for her son to attend class. When Ezekiel returned to school in the fall of 2021 as a third grader, Ezekiel was unhappy that other students had made more progress than he had.

A California judge ruled that Los Angeles' schools had violated10 Ezekiel's rights. The judge ordered the city's school district to give Ezekiel a place at a new school, with a special plan to ease him back into learning and building trust with his teachers.

The school did not follow the plan. Last October, his mother stopped sending him to school.

Last month, Ezekiel signed up for a public online school for California students. Hertog, his lawyer, is worried that the program will not work for someone with Ezekiel's needs. The family is looking for yet another choice.

At least three of the students Hertog has represented have been missing from school for long periods since in-person learning restarted. Their situations, she said, were avoidable. She added, "It's pretty disgraceful that the school systems allowed this to go on for so long." 

Words in This Story

professor — n. a teacher especially of the highest rank at a college or university

absence — n. a period of time when someone is not present at a place, job, etc.

basic — adj. forming or relating to the most important part of something

kid — n. a young person

roster3 — n. a list of the people or things that belong to a particular group, team, etc.

enroll5 — v. to take as a member or participant

disgrace11 — n. the condition of feeling ashamed or of losing or becoming unworthy of respect or approval

allow — v. to permit to have or do something


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 essentially nntxw     
adv.本质上,实质上,基本上
参考例句:
  • Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
  • She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。
2 financing ctqzVB     
n.筹措资金
参考例句:
  • The main source of our outside financing is bank loan. 我们向外筹措资金的主要渠道是银行贷款。
  • They live in a symbiosis with governments that they are financing. 他们与他们服务的政府互利共存。
3 roster CCczl     
n.值勤表,花名册
参考例句:
  • The teacher checked the roster to see whom he would teach this year.老师查看花名册,想了解今年要教的学生。
  • The next day he put himself first on the new roster for domestic chores.第二天,他把自己排在了新的家务值日表的第一位。
4 rosters 039aa80e18351f8a55d926fb6fc8c559     
n.花名册( roster的名词复数 );候选名单v.将(姓名)列入值勤名单( roster的第三人称单数 )
参考例句:
  • Teams have until Monday, Oct. 29 to set their rosters. 球队可以在下周一之前,即10月29确定他们的15人常规赛名单。 来自互联网
  • Rosters, R& R, FIFO or country-based lifestyle limiting your opportunities? 枯燥单调的生活方式限制了你的机会? 来自互联网
5 enroll Pogxx     
v.招收;登记;入学;参军;成为会员(英)enrol
参考例句:
  • I should like to enroll all my children in the swimming class.我愿意让我的孩子们都参加游泳班。
  • They enroll him as a member of the club.他们吸收他为俱乐部会员。
6 enrollment itozli     
n.注册或登记的人数;登记
参考例句:
  • You will be given a reading list at enrollment.注册时你会收到一份阅读书目。
  • I just got the enrollment notice from Fudan University.我刚刚接到复旦大学的入学通知书。
7 enrolled ff7af27948b380bff5d583359796d3c8     
adj.入学登记了的v.[亦作enrol]( enroll的过去式和过去分词 );登记,招收,使入伍(或入会、入学等),参加,成为成员;记入名册;卷起,包起
参考例句:
  • They have been studying hard from the moment they enrolled. 从入学时起,他们就一直努力学习。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • He enrolled with an employment agency for a teaching position. 他在职业介绍所登了记以谋求一个教师的职位。 来自《简明英汉词典》
8 unified 40b03ccf3c2da88cc503272d1de3441c     
(unify 的过去式和过去分词); 统一的; 统一标准的; 一元化的
参考例句:
  • The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
  • The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。
9 bereft ndjy9     
adj.被剥夺的
参考例句:
  • The place seemed to be utterly bereft of human life.这个地方似乎根本没有人烟。
  • She was bereft of happiness.她失去了幸福。
10 violated e9bdc00380e8f8d539ac7e2a7aa6a9c8     
亵渎( violate的过去式和过去分词 ); 违反; 侵犯; 强奸
参考例句:
  • Note that thick, strong angles of tibia are not violated. 注意肥厚、结实的胫骨成角部分未受损坏。
  • The soldiers violated the church by using it as a stable. 士兵们把教堂当马厩,亵渎了教堂。
11 disgrace klFzD     
n.耻辱,不光彩,丢脸的人(或事);vt.使丢脸
参考例句:
  • You will bring disgrace on yourself by doing this.你这样做会给自己带来耻辱。
  • He is a disgrace to our school.他是我们学校的耻辱。

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